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[frequency]

On the ride home today I was thinking about something. The quest driven MMOs of today don't let you grind to level if you wanted to. Sometimes I like to turn off my brain and not have to worry about running to and from places.
Sometimes I just want to be able to sit in one place and grind XP effectively.

But in this age of quest driven MMOs, mobs give so little XP that it's super inefficient and pretty stupid to grind instead of quest.

Back when I played WoW, while it wasn't as efficient in most cases, you could potentially grind to max level. But in SWTOR, you just can't. You have to follow their set story path to advance.

 

[JWong]

Sure, but even in Rift you had some options as to where you went to level and do quests. In SWTOR, you have to follow the planets in a linear fashion which cannot be deviated from. This is one of the downsides of being a single player story-focused game.

There's really no good reason for this game to be an MMORPG.

Players need to be funneled through the level to have an enjoyable experience. WoW did this, and even a game like Skyrim takes WoW design. No one likes to be thrown into a game and told to do their own shit.

On the ride home today I was thinking about something. The quest driven MMOs of today don't let you grind to level if you wanted to. Sometimes I like to turn off my brain and not have to worry about running to and from places.
Sometimes I just want to be able to sit in one place and grind XP effectively.

But in this age of quest driven MMOs, mobs give so little XP that it's super inefficient and pretty stupid to grind instead of quest.

Back when I played WoW, while it wasn't as efficient in most cases, you could potentially grind to max level. But in SWTOR, you just can't. You have to follow their set story path to advance.

You can't just grind in WoW. You have to move out to new areas as the mobs don't give you xp anymore. This is the same thing as TOR. You can access every planet available once you get your ship.

 

[Emitan]

Hard Mode Flash Points

Added to the top of the OT

 

[water_wendi]

Back when I played WoW, while it wasn't as efficient in most cases, you could potentially grind to max level. But in SWTOR, you just can't. You have to follow their set story path to advance.

i dont see why you couldnt grind on mobs to max level. They give a large amount of xp for their effort. And with how downtime is so short in this game (just use your classes OoC heal and in 3 seconds you are good to go) it might be worthwhile for some.

 

[frequency]

You can't just grind in WoW. You have to move out to new areas as the mobs don't give you xp anymore. This is the same thing as TOR. You can access every planet available once you get your ship.

I don't think I made myself clear.

I don't mean grinding in one spot to top level.
I just mean grinding efficiently for XP in general. As I understand it, in SWTOR, there are required quests for you to advance to other planets and stuff? The mob XP is so low that grinding out a level is infeasible.
In vanilla/BC WoW, it was perfectly feasible to level without doing a single quest.

i dont see why you couldnt grind on mobs to max level. They give a large amount of xp for their effort. And with how downtime is so short in this game (just use your classes OoC heal and in 3 seconds you are good to go) it might be worthwhile for some.

I'll try just straight grinding tonight and see how long it takes in comparison to the questing I've been doing.

 

[Mairu]

On the ride home today I was thinking about something. The quest driven MMOs of today don't let you grind to level if you wanted to. Sometimes I like to turn off my brain and not have to worry about running to and from places.
Sometimes I just want to be able to sit in one place and grind XP effectively.

But in this age of quest driven MMOs, mobs give so little XP that it's super inefficient and pretty stupid to grind instead of quest.

Back when I played WoW, while it wasn't as efficient in most cases, you could potentially grind to max level. But in SWTOR, you just can't. You have to follow their set story path to advance.

I will always prefer this to the Korean alternative and nothing's stopping you from spacebarring through the conversations and just killing what you need to kill

 

[JWong]

As I understand it, in SWTOR, there are required quests for you to advance to other planets and stuff?

You don't. You can go straight to a level 50 planet if you wanted to.

Edit: Confirmed. Went to Belsavis (level 40 planet) and trained some mobs to the guards.

 

[usea]

I'll try just straight grinding tonight and see how long it takes in comparison to the questing I've been doing.

I fought a ton of elite enemies on alderaan, with a group, for a datacron. I got about 2300 exp per kill. They were a couple levels above me though, and took a while to kill.

Players need to be funneled through the level to have an enjoyable experience. WoW did this, and even a game like Skyrim takes WoW design. No one likes to be thrown into a game and told to do their own shit.

Yeah. Nobody likes sandbox games at all. Come on, dude.

 

[Meicyn]

I'll try just straight grinding tonight and see how long it takes in comparison to the questing I've been doing.

It's obvious that questing will win out. But saying grinding is infeasible is pretty silly. Perhaps impractical is the word you're looking for.

I've overleveled content and have been level 50 for quite some time despite not having finished my class story and so forth for over a week. I didn't do space missions, I have avoided doing most flash points for the time being, and I sure as hell don't bother with PvP war zones. Quite a sizable chunk of my level gains were from mass slaughter of monsters for their materials to use in biochem. I've been over leveled for every planet since I left Korriban.

 

[water_wendi]

I'll try just straight grinding tonight and see how long it takes in comparison to the questing I've been doing.

ill probably try something like that too soon. It would really go well with the "queue anywhere" nature of the warzones. You wouldnt even need to go to Fleet often because there is a PvP vendor at the start of all the matches so hitting max on commendations wouldnt be a problem.

 

[KoruptData]

If I don't feel like questing, I grind out exp in warzones. A win gets you about 17k exp with rested exp.

 

[frequency]

I will always prefer this to the Korean alternative and nothing's stopping you from spacebarring through the conversations and just killing what you need to kill

It doesn't have to be one or the other. I'm not saying I want all quests to go away. I just said I sometimes feel like turning off and unwinding on a mob killing spree for a couple hours, but still be productive in character progression in doing so.

You don't. You can go straight to a level 50 planet if you wanted to.

Edit: Confirmed. Went to Belsavis (level 40 planet) and trained some mobs to the guards.

Alright. I heard wrong then. Thanks.

It's obvious that questing will win out. But saying grinding is infeasible is pretty silly. Perhaps impractical is the word you're looking for.

I've overleveled content and have been level 50 for quite some time despite not having finished my class story and so forth for over a week. I didn't do space missions, I have avoided doing most flash points for the time being, and I sure as hell don't bother with PvP war zones. Quite a sizable chunk of my level gains were from mass slaughter of monsters for their materials to use in biochem. I've been over leveled for every planet since I left Korriban.

I guess I'm a silly person.

 

[Varna]

Players need to be funneled through the level to have an enjoyable experience. WoW did this, and even a game like Skyrim takes WoW design. No one likes to be thrown into a game and told to do their own shit.

Sarcasm? I hope so.

I've fine with the design in this game. If you want to explore thing out of order you are free to do so. It would be cool if certain things changed a bit if you did things in different order like in the KOTOR games but that's a little too much to expect from a game with such a huge scale.

The only other MMO I've put serious time into is FFXI and I guess I'm just really appreciating some stuff that he older generation of mmos did a lot better. I hate how clearly labeled everything is. The likelihood of running into something that is way beyond your capabilities is so small in this game. It was such a joy to finally being able to defeat such and such creature after being defeated countless times. There is no experience like that in this game. The planets are huge but the level range never changes much. If some of the bonus missions had like a 10 level different they might actually be fun to do.

 

[JWong]

Sarcasm? I hope so.

I've fine with the design in this game. If you want to explore thing out of order you are free to do so. It would be cool if certain things changed a bit if you did things in different order like in the KOTOR games but that's a little too much to expect from a game with such a huge scale.

The only other MMO I've put serious time into is FFXI and I guess I'm just really appreciating some stuff that he older generation of mmos did a lot better. I hate how clearly labeled everything is. The likelihood of running into something that is way beyond your capabilities is so small in this game. It was such a joy to finally being able to defeat such and such creature after being defeated countless times. There is no experience like that in this game. The planets are huge but the level range never changes much. If some of the bonus missions had like a 10 level different they might actually be fun to do.

Well, if you want a game that doesn't clearly label anything, go play FF14. 8P

It's extremely confusing on how to chat with friends.

 

[water_wendi]

i love the crafting system. Here is my ranged DPS companions original gun.

She dual wields these. i found a purple barrel at our level and bought it for like 10k. One of her blasters turned into this.

Thats a huge upgrade for 10k. At the time there was only one with the stats i wanted. So i ding today and check whats up for auction and find 3 barrels all my level.. for 7k a piece! Here is what she is using now x2

For the 4 level difference on the one pistol that had an epic mod already, thats 51 more top end damage. She was already tearing stuff up before.. its gonna be good today lol

 

[Varna]

Well, if you want a game that doesn't clearly label anything, go play FF14. 8P

I really tried. Everything is so fucken clunky and slow. Fighting, moving, opening menus... it's just terrible.

SWTOR should have a different server type... slower leveling, no planet and quest labels and no level display on monsters.

 

[Choc]

Is there any way to uncovered the circled hexes on the Coruscant map? It looks like there should be a way for me to get to those places.

that one uncovers when you get to teh final quest on that planet

 

[Heysoos]

First piece of Columni PVE gear. Looks pretty freaking awesome. Also got the Comet Strike blaster.

 

[Hawk269]

I guess if I were a graphics whore, I'd be dropping this game really fast. Eh, I look past that and been having a whole lot of fun with the game. PvP and PvE - wise.

I agree with you. Even with the issues, I am still enjoying the game and I still think the game looks really good. However, for me, if they implemented just the simple graphics sliders that most any PC game current has and has had for the last few years, it would make things even better for me. As I mentioned, my biggest issue is terrain/plant/grass draw distance. Running around and seeing grass growing right in front of you is not too impressive. It get's worse in areas were plant life is not as much, for example Korriban were plant life is not as abundant the amount of distant and near pop up of plant life looks really bad.

 

[CzarTim]

I have the graphics low anyway to increase performance in WZs.

 

[Lain]

I wanted to take a pic of the vista from up there, but then looked at my feet and felt depressed.

Found a holocron in a level 40 area I shouldn't have been wandering in, and it gave me 4str? Meh!

A big bad monster dropped me off my hoverbike while I was hovering over some rocks and... I ended trapped below the rocks.

 

[Thoraxes]

GAF Empire people, can I get an invite to guild?

Name is Misaki.

 

[CzarTim]

For those of us who have a habit of clicking the wrong class hanger in the fleet, I realized today that they are all connected. Once you take the elevator down, you can use the halls going left or right instead of going back up!

 

[kayos90]

Got my Shadow to level 50 and finished up Act 3 and just about to start Ilum. I think while the ride to leveling up and watching the story unfold was great, I've suddenly lost all motivation to play the game. I feel like games like these where stuff is endless and somewhat repetitive, I find somewhat meaningless. The ride getting to where I was awesome but I think the fact that there is an eventual end makes playing worthwhile.

 

[SuperAndroid17]

Have they talked about how they're gonna expand the legacy system?

 

[chickdigger802]

let's talk about something 'impressive' about the visuals then.

It might just be my low expectations of an mmo, but the more I played the JK, the more I enjoy the little details in the attack animations, like the little wrist twirl after most moves and how most skill animations seem to link together well. And the directional 'deflecting' stance is pretty cool. The hit 'reaction' is kinda crappy (especially for riposte), but that's what you expect from 'turn based' mmos.

I know there are many korean mmos with much fancier stuff, but I always found those animations to tire out much faster and become more of a hindrance.

Most of the other jobs have decent animations as well from what I've seen.

 

[CzarTim]

Have they talked about how they're gonna expand the legacy system?

Soon (TM)

 

[cpp_is_king]

that one uncovers when you get to teh final quest on that planet

I thought i had actually done every single quest on the planet. Do you remember the name of quest?

 

[Choc]

I thought i had actually done every single quest on the planet. Do you remember the name of quest?

for jedi knight

'Race to the ruins'

 

[cpp_is_king]

for jedi knight

'Race to the ruins'

Ahh well there you go, I'm not a Jedi Knight.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Players need to be funneled through the level to have an enjoyable experience. WoW did this, and even a game like Skyrim takes WoW design. No one likes to be thrown into a game and told to do their own shit.

I really hope you're being sarcastic... You're pretty much saying that people, universally, don't like freedom in video games. I don't know how you can say Skyrim takes WoW's design. It's one of the most open-ended games around (to its detriment, in my opinion, due to the level scaling).

In WoW, you were encouraged on certain paths, but there were always multiple places to level and quest if you wanted a change (at least in vanilla). SWTOR does not let you deviate from the story path even slightly.

Anyway, I disagree with you that players need to be funneled and ordered around to have an enjoyable experience. That's another thread, though, and I probably shouldn't keep crying for a good sandbox MMORPG in this thread any longer. I do think there is an audience for a less restricted game, though.

 

[Choc]

On the ride home today I was thinking about something. The quest driven MMOs of today don't let you grind to level if you wanted to. Sometimes I like to turn off my brain and not have to worry about running to and from places.
Sometimes I just want to be able to sit in one place and grind XP effectively.

.

pvp

 

[Moaradin]

Skyrim has an open world, but the quest are more or less a guided experience. That's pretty much what SWTOR is, with more focus on the storylines and less on the open world.

 

[Choc]

Skyrim has an open world, but the quest are more or less a guided experience. That's pretty much what SWTOR is, with more focus on the storylines and less on the open world.

i disagree

the only reason the game is discouraging exploration to an extent is everyone is writing guides where to find the datacrons

thats clearly meant to be a reward for running all over the place, especially that f****king ballon ride

 

[bounchfx]

Skyrim has an open world, but the quest are more or less a guided experience. That's pretty much what SWTOR is, with more focus on the storylines and less on the open world.

saying SWTOR is similar to Skyrim in how it's set up does Skyrim a massive disservice

 

[Choc]

skyrim couldn't be less linear if it tried

as the giantbomb guys say 'the end of the world is coming, but guess what imma just gonig to go join all these guilds now and come back later'

 

[Moaradin]

saying SWTOR is similar to Skyrim in how it's set up does Skyrim a massive disservice

Skyrim has a lot more open world features, but I'm mainly talking about the quest structure. The mainline in Skyrim leads you everywhere. Just wish the story was more interesting in skyrim though, and then I might be more inclined to play it. I'm just waiting for mods to fix the game.

 

[Choc]

Skyrim has a lot more open world features, but I'm mainly talking about the quest structure. The mainline in Skyrim leads you everywhere. Just wish the story was more interesting in skyrim though, and then I might be more inclined to play it. I'm just waiting for mods to fix the game.

due to the level scaling you don't HAVE to go in that order


swtor you really do. If you go to hoth at 20

good luck

 

[Moaradin]

due to the level scaling you don't HAVE to go in that order


swtor you really do. If you go to hoth at 20

good luck

Skyrim has leaving scaling? That's really stupid. I thought they dropped that dumb idea. But, you do have to do your storyline in skyrim to unlock some things though.

 

[cpp_is_king]

Skyrim style Sandbox and MMO are practically incompatible from a design standpoint, since your choices affect the world in a sandbox game. There's a reason you've never seen an MMO where every one of your choices permanently affect the world.

Its easy to sit back and criticize companies for not doing the impossible when you dont have the game design experience necessary to realize what a hard problem it is.

The reason MMOs are the way they are is because thats what the best minds in the business have been able to make work. If someone ever figures out how to do it better, rest assured they will. But dont act like they arent trying or dont want to

 

[StudioTan]

SWTOR does not let you deviate from the story path even slightly.

Not exactly true. Once I got my ship I had quests on 2 different planets and I could have done them in either order. Same with the 2 planets after that. Also, aside from your class quests you can do the rest of the quests on that planet or not. I skipped half of Tattooine and half of Alderaan. I'll do them on alts. You also don't even have to do your class quest once you get your ship. You can do PVP, grinding and space missions to cap if you want to. You won't get your companions but that's your choice.

We get it, this isn't a sandbox. I would love it if it was, but if wishing were wings pigs could fly. It's still a great MMO and the people I play it with make it even better.

Skyrim style Sandbox and MMO are practically incompatible from a design standpoint, since your choices affect the world in a sandbox game. There's a reason you've never seen an MMO where every one of your choices permanently affect the world.

Its easy to sit back and criticize companies for not doing the impossible when you dont have the game design experience necessary to realize what a hard problem it is.

The reason MMOs are the way they are is because thats what the best minds in the business have been able to make work. If someone ever figures out how to do it better, rest assured they will. But dont act like they arent trying or dont want to

SWG did it, but then people just whined that there were harvesters and houses everywhere. They also complained that there was too much open space but you needed that open space in order to allow people to use the land.

 

[JWong]

saying SWTOR is similar to Skyrim in how it's set up does Skyrim a massive disservice

Skyrim does what Oblivion doesn't, lead you to other quest hubs. You cannot complete the main story without going through the major guilds and cities. This is clearly influenced by WoW design, and it is amazing and more enjoyable.

 

[Evil Benius]

Anyone here have experience with removing the security key from their account? I had to do a factory reset of my phone tonight and despite being careful enough to write down the serial for my authenticator, there does not seem to be an automated process for reclaiming it. From poking around the boards it seems my only option is to call support to deal with it. To make things even better it seems you can only add an authenticator to your account once so once you get it removed there is no way to add a new one.

What is the phone support like for this game, am I stuck with a call center in India or will I actually get someone I understand?

 

[bounchfx]

Skyrim does what Oblivion doesn't, lead you to other quest hubs. You cannot complete the main story without going through the major guilds and cities. This is clearly influenced by WoW design, and it is amazing and more enjoyable.

absolutely, but the beauty is that I can do 90% of it in any order I want, whereas TOR so far is a good deal more linear. It makes sense, but it really isn't like skyrim.

 

[frequency]

pvp

PvP I need to like really pay attention though.
When I feel like just grinding XP, I want to turn my brain off, listen to some music, and chat while progressing my character in a meaningful way.

But anyway. I tried grinding a bit tonight but... I don't think I like the battle system too much. Again, it's my issue with being a pet class and fighting groups all the time and no auto attack. So blech. I retract my complaint about grinding.

 

[water_wendi]

PvP I need to like really pay attention though.
When I feel like just grinding XP, I want to turn my brain off, listen to some music, and chat while progressing my character in a meaningful way.

But anyway. I tried grinding a bit tonight but... I don't think I like the battle system too much. Again, it's my issue with being a pet class and fighting groups all the time and no auto attack. So blech. I retract my complaint about grinding.

There are plenty of places where there are no large pulls. On Voss there are those abomination things. i killed 20-30 of them for mats. They are silver elites and go down pretty easy.

 

[frequency]

There are plenty of places where there are no large pulls. On Voss there are those abomination things. i killed 20-30 of them for mats. They are silver elites and go down pretty easy.

I'm not that high level yet. I can't think of anywhere near me that has single mob fights. I just started Balmora I think it's called.

 

[Moaradin]

Next major patch (1.2) will have high rez textures.

 

[chickdigger802]

Next major patch (1.2) will have higher rez textures.

fixed.

Just don't expect too much. This ain't not Aion or FF14. Haven't really played WoW post cata, how does the visuals compare with this?

 

[water_wendi]

I'm not that high level yet. I can't think of anywhere near me that has single mob fights. I just started Balmora I think it's called.

Usually its animals that roam alone. Its been awhile since ive been on Balmorra but i remember that some of the wildlife there wasnt in groups. Some neutral bird/bat things.. and cat things i think?